Rastaka
}}Rastaka is a troll hexxer of the Darkspear tribe. Owing allegiance to his tribe and the Horde simultaneously, Rakasta is a spiritual guide for his people. He is known for his unabashed practice of voodoo and spiritualism and is looked toward with respect and some degree of reverent fear for his connection to the Loa and the spirits of the dead alike. His pursuits aren't entirely based in self-interest, as Rakasta has played an instrumental role in ensuring his tribe's survival through the years, be it during the Third War or against the terrifying murloc menace which drove his people inland. He offers his services and strength to the Horde, though struggles to adapt his rigid adherence to superannuated traditions to their newly amalgamated culture and ethics. Physical Appearance Rakasta is a lanky jungle troll with mossy green skin covered in a nigh invisible sheet of short and red vellus fur. That fur matches his most notable feature, a red shock of hair upon his scalp that he styles in as a mohawk. He has angular features, sharp incisors, and long, sharp tusks which he grows and hones as a matter of pride. His glare shows a greater sum of white in the eyes than is normal, giving him a seemingly maniacal demeanor that pairs well with his apparent eccentricities. At any given him he covers his face and torso in ceremonial pigments, most commonly in a configuration that evokes ancient troll warpaint; though during exceptional occasions he instead spreads an ash white visage of death upon the majority of his face to honor Bwomsamdi. Personality This hexxer's personality is difficult to pin down. While he is eccentric, his bizarre tendencies are nailed down by his duty to the tribe, the Horde, and to his mate and son. He is pragmatic and morally flexible to a fault, often more concerned with how well he can exploit the spirits rather than concerning himself with a fair deal. Fortunately they are rarely cross with him, for his decades of playing by their rules has taught him how to stay within the bounds just enough to keep them appeased and pliant. Biography Early life Rakasta was born well before the First War in the lush and verdant cradle of the Stranglethorn Vale. The importance of survival and duty to the tribe was impressed upon him as a young age, for at the time of his youth the Gurubashi were at war with the humans from the kingdom of Stormwind. Given to more peaceful and practical traditions, the Darkspear tribe kept to themselves and avoided the conflict which contributed to a growing sentiment within the neighboring tribes that they were to be exploited and their lands taken from them. These harsh times drove Rakasta's father to seek guidance from the spirits alongside Sen'jin and the other tribe elders. This contributed to young Rakasta's reverence to the unseen hand of the divine, which he viewed as a source of deliverance from their woes. Throughout his youth Rakasta followed in the path of all Darkspear youth, learning the various traditions and skills necessary for survival - to hunt, to forage, to bear a standard, a javelin, and a shield, to fashion fetishes and make offerings to those beyond the veil, to honor the dead and the traditions which they passed down, and so on. The young troll was particularly perceptive, able to identify poisonous plants and pick up on herbal scents in order to secure important resources and reagents for his tribe. During this time he learned much about the art of alchemy and herbalism such as it was known and practiced by jungle trolls. The jungles of Stranglethorn offered a great bounty after all, fit only to be claimed by those with the courage and knowledge to do so. Living in a challenging environment fostered strength and independance that ultimatley served Rakasta well in dealing with the passing of his father, and he took pride knowing that he'd lived long enough to witness Rakasta's rites of passages through the years. Rakasta was considered an adult by troll standards only a few short years before the Second War, and by then he'd joined his people in an exodus off the coast onto what came to be the Darkspear Islands, where they could live in relative peace away from the wars engulfing the Eastern Kingdoms and the relentless violence that had characterized tribal relations within the Vale. The Darkspear Islands This promised land upon which his people had settled offered a rich bounty, and given the ease by which Rakasta could settle in and mourn his father's death, it wasn't long before he took a mate and conceived with her a child. By this time Rakasta had earned some degree of respect from Sen'jin, who too grieved for the loss of Rakasta's father whom he regarded as a dear friend. Sensing potential in Rakasta's kinship with the Loa, Sen'jin arranged for him to receive training from master Gadrin and become a witch doctor - a task for which a young Rakasta had already been groomed for near his entire life. He learned not only to commune with the spirits but the nuances of Darkspear tradition, that he may convey them to a younger generation just as his auspicious peers who were offered similar training by the elders. It seemed at last that Rakasta's role within the tribe and importance to his people would take shape. The appeal of this new home did not linger overlong however as an aquatic menace beset upon his people wielding coral-encustred blades , while performing peculiar magicks that afforded them control over the seas. Worse still, humans moored upon their islands in pursuit of outlanders Rakasta came to know as orcs. The Darkspear entreated peacefully with their leader, known as Thrall, but shortly thereafter Sen'jin and Thrall were both taken captive by their new shared enemy. Rakasta helped to rally headhunters from his tribe so that they could engage the fishfolk in number and try to free their captive kinsman and the orcs both. They played a successful part, but this triumph came at a loss to the tribe as Sen'jin did not survive the conflict, made a sacrifice by a scaled witch. Vol'jin, who took over as chieftain of the tribe, now had something very much in common with Rakasta. With Vol'jin away on a spiritual journey of sorts, Rakasta considered remaining on the islands until his return so as to share in his grief, but Gadrin bid him instead to go with his kinsmen across the sea to Kalimdor, that he might offer his people some measure of guidance in the absence of their leader. So as most of the Darkspear departed the islands to join forces with Thrall's orcs, Rakasta - a promising spiritual guide to his people, a nascent advisor to his new chieftain, and a soon-to-be father - carried his share of the weight that comprised his tribe's future on his back. The Invasion of Kalimdor When the Darkspear trolls made landfall upon Kalimdor with the orcs led by Thrall, it was a far cry from the lands which Rakasta had known all of his life. Instead of a tropical jungle, lush and bountiful, it was a barren and deserted wasteland. New to the land though he was, Rakasta knew with due certainty that surviving would be difficult for his people, especially in the absence of their leader and one of their spiritual advisors. With Zalazane and Vol'jin still upon the islands they'd just forsaken, Rakasta became one of the foremost spiritualists remaining among his people, one of Gadrin's only remaining disciples that they could count on to petition the Loa. Thrust into the role, Rakasta adapted well as trolls are wont. He petitioned the spirits for guidance and direction, treated maladies both physical and spiritual, blessed the ensuing births of new tribe members (his son included, whom he had named Rakiki after his father.) As the orcs and trolls forged inland, Rakasta was present when they made contact with the native tauren and helped escorted them to Mulgore while fending off threats both fully human and only half-human and half-horse. This perilous path led him north through the barrens alongside his people, following Thrall whom Sen'jin had invested his hopes in his dying moment. Rakasta grew fond of his new kinsmen, offering knowledge of Darkspear traditions to them in exchange for learning of their own, particularly that of the tauren who he found to somewhat resemble his own tribe in a fashion. As this horde's path spiraled ever northward, Rakasta was ultimately present at the apex of the Third War, tending to the wounded and offering mystical aid and guidance to a coalition of forces that fought to defend Mount Hyjal from an ultimate, existential threat. Rakasta, having thought Gurubashi legends described a demon well, came to realize that a true demon was all the more terrible, whether it rained from the sky or towered over armies, annihilating them by rendering their insides out. Had Rakasta taken up the spear in his youth and not the staff, he would surely have perished upon the mountain. Instead he was made witness to the death of his own, who had already suffered from dwindling numbers, and to send their spirits on their way if they could not be restored to their bodies. The Founding of Durotar A slog of a write-up that I'm going to try to abridge as much as possible mainly concerning Rakasta's feelings about the Horde, about Durotar, and about being reunited with the last members of his tribe left on the islands (with some degree of exposition about how relationship and feelings toward Gadrin, Vol'jin and Zalazane.) This will then lead into me talking about his role in that whole Theramore thing. Trivia Notes and references Category:Characters Category:Troll Category:Horde